Young and old don denim for a day

YOUNG and old alike donned denim yesterday to raise €150,000 for disadvantaged young people across Ireland.

It was the one day of the year that thousands of workers could dress like Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary famous for check shirt and blue jeans with the approval of their employers.

Everyone from top company executives to schoolchildren taking part agreed to donate at least €2 to the Irish Youth Foundation. Every euro raised on the day will be used to support IYF's work with disadvantaged children and young people.

And those organisations already operating an informal dress code on Fridays, or wouldn't dream of abandoning the shirt and tie, did something a bit different to make a real difference to young peoples' lives.

The foundation's fund-raising officer Éadaoin McHugh pointed out that more than €1 million has been raised from Denim Day, now generously sponsored by the Wrangler jean company.

Denim Day was first introduced in 1996.

Last year's event raised over €125,000 and each year has seen an increase in the hundreds of schools and companies participating.

Every year the IYF sends out over 2,000 Denim Day packs to schools and companies in a bid to encourage them to become involved.

Ms McHugh said it was not too late either for people to become involved.

They can phone the hotline number 1890-226677 or donate €2 directly to the IYF by texting the word DENIM to 57080.

This year participants were invited to select where they would like their money to be spent and a number of areas are listed in the IYF's information pack. The money can be spent on afterschool and homework clubs; creative activities; sporting and recreational equipment, drug and alcohol awareness programmes or offending and anti-social intervention programmes.

The foundation is an independent charitable trust established in 1985 and funds projects around the country for disadvantaged children and young people.

The IYF has two grant calls a year. This year they had over 200 applications for 55 grants of up to €3,000 each.

Another call for grants of up to €15,000 will be made soon and the foundation expects to be in a position to reply positively to only a third of the applications made.